Rohit Sharma fell in the second over of India's reply to Australia's 474, ending his brief comeback to the top of the order. KL Rahul was early and appeared ready to lead India to the tea break with Yashasvi Jaiswal when he was hit by an unplayable Pat Cummins delivery just before the break. After a thrilling morning session, Australia returned at 454/7, but they quickly lost two wickets. After lunch, Mitchell Starc left the field in the opening over after playing down the incorrect line and was removed by Ravindra Jadeja from around the stumps. As he watched, Steve Smith, a centurion, danced down for a massive hit through the off-side off Akash Deep, but the ball bounced off his thigh and rolled on to remove one bail, giving India the advantage.
Scott Boland and Nathan Lyon had an eight-over final-wicket stand during which the former successfully reviewed two LBW rulings before Jasprit Bumrah came back to finish the innings by taking Lyon's wicket. Bumrah has only bowled more in an innings three times prior to this one, and the wicket came in his 29th over of the innings. The skipper of India's poor performance in BGT 2024–25 persisted despite the change in batting position.
In the second over, the leading edge went to Boland at mid-on, and Rohit fell while attempting to pull a ball that wasn't short enough. Rahul showed up early and appeared at ease with Jaiswal, who also overcame some initial anxiety to gain confidence. As the session came to a close, Cummins got one ball to straighten off a length, pegging back Rahul's off-stump and squaring him up. India was at 51/2 going into the half, giving the hosts greater ground.
Smith's 34th Test century, his 11th versus India in the format, in the morning session set the groundwork for this advantage in MCG. After a brief battle with Bumrah in the opening hour, he tormented every bowler for India. India lost runs at a reasonable rate throughout because they were careless on the field and uninspired with the ball. Before holing out against Jadeja, Cummins scored a breezy 49 to join in on the fun. Smith was accompanied by Mitchell Starc as the centurion continued to toss his bat around. Even though Australia just added 20 runs to their total in the second session, India is already under more pressure after two early dismissals.
Brief scores: Australia 474 (Steve Smith 140, Marnus Labuschagne 72, Jasprit Bumrah 4-99) leads India 51/2 (Pat Cummins 2-27) by 423 runs.
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